Monthly Archives: August 2011

Any place that can make me a made to order burger fresh and have it ready to stuff in my face in less than two shakes is a-ok in my book. Five Guys Burgers and Fries has a wide open kitchen where you can see the hustle and bustle of your burger cooked from start to finish. The crispy bacon is sitting in a HUGE basket ready to go. (Aside, I’d love a bacon basket in my kitchen.) The burger guy is grillin’, flippin’ and scrapin’ non-stop. The fry guy literally has 10 baskets going from prep to fry to rest.

We ordered “little” bacon cheeseburger with “everything,” which means, mayo, lettuce, tomato, pickles, grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, ketchup and mustard. Keep in mind “little” only means 1 beef patty vs. 2 for the regular burger. We also shared ordered a regular sized order of CAJUN fries. Always a fan of any cajun seasoning, we ordered those over the regular five guys fries. As I watched them layer all the ingredients fresh and wrap it up, I hoped that they wouldn’t let it sit too long and let things get soggy. Soggy texture is not my favorite texture at all. Happy me, they quickly packed up and delivered everything in a bag that we ripped open immediately to devour the food.

The bite of all the fresh ingredients was fantastic, however, here are my two gripes:
– I wish that they toasted the bun because I like my bread toasty and able to hold all the wet ingredients to the very last bite.
– I wish that the fresh cut potato fries were extra crispy. I think that being so thick and fresh they release too much moisture and end up limp and soggy.

Conclusion: I love that there are so many extra ingredients to add to your burger and the staff is super efficient in delivering the food.

Hot N’ Juicy has another contender to look out for. Where they don’t quite beat Hot N’ Juicy in flavor of their seafood, they really kick it up a few notches in terms of friendly and fast service, the attention to detail in decor, and an expanded menu in terms of variety compared to Hot N’ Juicy.

Service:
– The food came fast! Drinks came quick! Waters and drinks were refilled even when it was semi-busy on a Friday night.

Food: There’s lot of variety to choose from, but we stuck to our usual…
– Cravin’ Cajun style shrimp – This was comparable to Hot N’ Juicy’s Special Sauce, but not as spicy. Somehow not as tasty, tangy and addicting, but still very enjoyable.
– Lemon Pepper shrimp with Corn – Also comparable to Hot N’ Juicy but lacked some sort of addictive ingredient. Is it MSG? Heh.
– Deep Fried Catfish Basket – Now, this is where it’s at! I prefer the catfish preparation here because they thin slice the fish so that there is optimal crunchy breading per fish ratio. The tartar sauce served along side is perfect! Extra tart and creamy.
– Deep Fried Oyster Basket – Little nuggets of juicy deep fried oysters. Yum.
– Cajun Fries – These are tasty and crunchy. Equivalent tastiness when compared to Hot N’ Juicy, but the downside, they get soggy after sitting in their own steamy heat. I’ve got an easy solution for that: Just eat it all quickly! Problem solved for soggy fries.

Bonus! – Extra seasoning shakers available to “BAM” the heck out of anything.
Bonus 2! – A thoughtful addition of sinks just outside the restrooms, gives patrons the convenience of being able to quickly run over and wash their hands.
Bonus 3! – (for my man) – Big variety of all kinds of beer

Conclusion: They just opened about a week ago, and I think there is A LOT of potential in the place. There’s still MANY dishes to try: dessert, jambalaya, ettouffee, crabcakes. We might just bypass Hot N’ Juicy’s lines and wait to go to Cravin’ Cajun.